Harry Potter and the Twin Who Lived
by DarkLordHufflepuff
Summary: Harry Potter is the less famous twin brother Daniel Potter the boy who lived. Follow his life living in the shadow of his brother. AU HHr
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I am not and never will be JKR I don't own and Harry Potter and I don't see that changing in the near future.**

**A/N:The idea for this story came about as a result of reading the stories 'Unsung Hero' and 'Revenge of the Squib Son'. I enjoyed both stories, but I had a problem with the idea that Lily and James Potter could treat Harry so badly. To be clear this is not a "Wrong Boy-Who-Lived" story, Harry is not the boy-who-lived his brother is.**

Harry Potter and the Twin Who Lived

_Lily Potter had just put her sons to bed and was walking down the stairs to the family room when she heard her husband shouting. "Lily it's him, take the boys and run!" She immediately turned around and ran back up the stairs and into her sons' room._

"_Safety" she spoke the activation phrase of the emergency portkeys that would take her sons to safety, but nothing happened. 'Damn, he must have put up anti-portkey wards' she thought to herself as she turned to face the door. If she couldn't get them out she would at least stand between that bastard and her sons, she would die to protect her children._

_At that moment Lord Voldemort came up the stairs, he looked at Lily with a sneer on his face. Before she could say anything he sent a curse at her and she crumpled to the floor. This action immediately woke the two babies in the room and one of them started crying at the top of his tiny lungs. Voldemort looked around the room. Two cribs sat at opposite ends of the room, in one was a small boy with black hair and green eyes staring right at the dark wizard who had just struck down his mother, in the other another boy with dark red hair was bawling as loud as he could._

_The Dark Lord turned his wand on the screaming babe, both boys would die, he might as well silence this one first "Avada Kedavra" he cried and a jet of green light left his wand, just as the light was about to strike the boy a bright golden light field of shimmering light appeared and it reflected the green ball of energy back at the Dark Lord. When it touched him he let out a piercing scream as his body was slowly destroyed._

_Little Harry Potter watched in silence as his brother Daniel was attacked. He didn't make a sound as the Dark Lord writhed in agony. As he watched his brother's continued screams his only reaction was to turn his eyes to look at his mother, seeing her lying on the floor as though dead he let out the first sound he had made all night "mummy"._

Lily Potter woke in a cold sweat, it had been months since the attack on her home, months since the death of the dark wizard known as Voldemort and she still had nightmares about the night she had almost lost her husband and her two sons. Lily was frustrated, everyone knew that there were still Death Eaters out there, but there hadn't been a single arrest since a week after Voldemort's death when Barty Crouch Jr. was arrested with Bellatrix Lestrange following a failed attack on Frank and Alice Longbottom. Bellatrix's husband and brother-in-law had also been part of the attack but they had been slain by James and Lily when they had arrived at the Longbottom home for lunch. When it was discovered that the son of the respected head of Magical Law Enforcement had been a Death Eater no one wanted to look any deeper, they were too afraid of what they might find. The last trial had occurred that very day, Peter Petigrew the Potter's former friend and secret-keeper had been sentenced to twenty-five years in Azkaban.

Harry Potter groaned silently to himself as he entered the Leaky Cauldron. It was the same as every time his brother entered a public place, every witch and wizard in the little pub immediately swarmed to greet Daniel Potter, and Daniel loved it. Harry grabbed his mother's hand and the two of them made their way through the crowd toward the back of the pub. This was how things always were when they went out in public Daniel would insist on basking in the limelight and James would stay with him while Harry and Lily went and dealt with whatever they were supposed to be doing. Today they were going to Diagon Alley to get Harry and Daniel's school supplies it was their eleventh birthday and they had received their Hogwarts letters a few days before.

When Harry and Lily entered the Alley they made their way to Ollivander's, Harry was a little disappointed that they didn't need to visit Gringotts, Harry enjoyed visiting the bank. The goblins were not impressed with the fact that Daniel Potter had somehow destroyed a Dark Lord at a year old and they treated him with the same level of courtesy that he treated them, which wasn't much, and Harry liked goblins immensely for this. As they entered the dusty little wand shop Ollivander came out from behind a shelf and a smile lit up his face when he saw his new customers.

"Ah Mrs. Potter, and young Harry. I thought you might be coming by soon, I assume Daniel will be in later?" Ollivander spoke the last bit as though it were an unimportant side-note, clarifying the eventual arrival of another customer rather than looking forward to meeting the boy-who-lived.

"Yes James will be bringing him by later." Lily informed the old wand-maker politely.

"Well Harry why don't you step up here and let's find you your wand." Harry complied and the wand-maker took out his measuring tape and started his usual routine. The measurements were not actually necessary, but after a muggleborn had made a comment about how he had been expecting to be measured like he was trying on shoes some sixty years ago he had decided to make more of a production out of finding the right wand for young witches and wizards.

It did not take long for Ollivander to find the perfect wand for Harry "Try this one, ash and dragon heart-string, ten ad a half inches, flexible and precise, good for delicate work." Harry took hold of the offered wand and immediately felt the difference from the other wands he had tried out. He waved the wand and a shower of royal blue sparks came from the tip. "Ah excellent, don't see many ash wands nowadays, very powerful. I think you are capable of great things Mr. Potter, good luck."

The rest of the trip was uneventful, though Daniel later bragged about how his wand had the same core as Voldemort's. Harry really couldn't see how that was something to be proud of, but that didn't stop Daniel from rubbing his face in the fact that he had a famous brother. Harry really didn't like his brother, it wasn't, as some accused, that he was jealous of his brother's fame, he really saw no reason to want that kind of fame. No, Harry had never gotten along with his brother, when they were babies they had always had to be kept as far apart from each other as possible or they would start fighting. While their parents tried not to give Daniel special treatment it did little good, when his parents refused him something he could always find some adoring fan who would do what he wanted.

Harry was sitting in a quiet compartment on the Hogwarts Express looking through his copy of _The Standard Book of Spells Grade One_. He had found the compartment as soon as he boarded the train while his brother was busy being adored by the gullible public. He had been reading for about thirty minutes when the compartment door opened, a girl with bushy brown hair looked in.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" She asked. Harry nodded and she took a seat on the bench across from him. "I just met the most annoying boy." She declared.

"I'm kind of hurt, we only just met." Harry said nonchalantly.

"Sorry, not you. I'm talking about Daniel Potter." She quickly clarified

Harry immediately stood up and gave the girl a big hug "I think I'm in love. Will you marry me?"

The girl could tell that he wasn't completely serious with his question, but she could tell that there was no malice in the joke so she decided to play along "Sure, but don't you think you should know my name before you go making life changing decisions like that?"

Harry sat back down with a thoughtful look on his face before he shrugged "You're right, I guess it would be a good idea to know your name." he responded with a smile.

"I'm Hermione Granger." she told him.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Hermione, I'm Harry Potter."

"Oh, so Daniel is your..."

"Evil twin. I'm going to make a guess, you're muggleborn right?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" Hermione was a little uneasy with the question, but she decided to give Harry the benefit of the doubt.

Harry could sense Hermione's unease with the way she had responded "Oh, well you agreed to marry me without actually knowing who I was, if I were an unscrupulous type I could actually hold you to that agreement." Harry informed her.

This revelation shocked Hermione "Wait you mean you could force me to marry you? That's barbaric. How can any modern society allow that."

"Technically I could. I swear I would never do anything like that though, my mother would kill me. The most important lesson you should learn though is that the magical world is not a modern society. That is one of the problems with maintaining an hereditary legislature when the average life-expectancy is over one hundred years old." Harry explained to her. Harry had a unique perspective on the politics of the wizarding world. As the older twin he was the heir to the title of Lord Potter and the family seats on the Wizengamot. His mother on the other hand was an intelligent muggleborn witch who had a good understanding of both muggle and magical politics. Harry spent quite a bit of time explaining all of it to Hermione who was fascinated by all the things she was learning.

"So the Wizengamot is both the Legislature and the Judiciary," Hermione clarified, Harry nodded "and membership is hereditary."

"Up until 1870 it was, there were originally 100 seats on the Wizengamot, but in 1870 political unrest forced them to add 50 elected seats. Those seats are mostly unimportant though because they would need to all agree to something and then get twenty-six of the hereditary members to agree in order to pass anything with a simple majority, and any major change to structure or procedure needs two-thirds."

As Harry was explaining the intricacies of magical politics the compartment door opened again and a girl with long strawberry blonde hair poked her head inside. "Oh hi Harry."

"Hey Susan, you want to join us?" Harry gestured for her to take a seat "Oh I suppose I should introduce you, Susan Bones my fiancee Hermione Granger."

"Nice to meet you Hermione. How did that happen?" Susan asked Harry.

"She called Daniel annoying." Harry shrugged, as if that should explain everything.

"And she said yes? Your dad is going to lose it when you tell him about this one." Susan said barely containing her laughter.

Hermione shot a questioning look at Harry. "When my dad first met my mum on the Hogwarts Express he asked her to marry him. She however said no at the time and it took six years before he could convince her to go out with him. Though to be fair part of why she said no was that before he asked her he hexed her friend and his exact words were 'hey you're cute, will you marry me.'"

"So you asked me to marry you because I don't like your brother and to out do your father?" Hermione asked him looking a little hurt.

"Hermione you have to understand how Harry and Daniel feel about each other, and how everyone seems to react to Daniel. The two of them have never liked each other, and most people are so enamored with Daniel's fame that they completely ignore the fact that he is an annoying git." Susan tried to explain.

"Also I didn't exactly expect you to say yes. So I didn't go into trying to one up my dad." Harry continued.

"So why did you introduce me as your fiancee?" Hermione asked.

"Susan would get a kick out of it, and you haven't decided to withdraw your agreement. The fact that you are sensible enough to not fall for my brother says nothing but good things about you so I'm not going to ruin things by turning you down after you agreed." Harry answered.

The three of them talked about school houses and classes for a while. They were then joined by Daphne Greengrass and Blaise Zabini. When introductions were made Blaise looked Harry right in the eye and said "Your brother is quite full of himself, isn't he?"

"Yes he is." Harry said with a slight chuckle.

"I can only imagine how much worse he would be if he could claim to be the future Lord Potter." Daphne said.

This caused Hermione to once again send a questioning glance at Harry. "I am slightly older than my brother, so I am the heir apparent to the title of Lord Potter. House Potter holds a number of seats on the Wizengamot and Lord Potter is the individual who represents the House in the Wizengamot. You are currently engaged to a future Lord. For the most part the title of Lord is meaningless, the only time my dad uses the title is when he wants to annoy people."

"So when your dad dies you will hold seats on the Wizengamot?" Hermione asked with some interest.

"Probably a lot sooner than that. Dad hates playing politics, he wants to hand over the title when I turn fifteen, but mum said I had to graduate before I go into politics." Harry told her.

The rest of the ride was spent discussing one topic after another and soon enough they arrived at Hogsmead Station. They disembarked the train and joined the other first years around the massive man shouting "firs' years over 'ere". They were led to the shore of the lake where they loaded into boats to ride across the lake. Harry shared a boat with Hermione, Susan, and Blaise. When they arrived at the far side of the lake they got off the boat and were led inside the castle where they were met by a stern looking woman.

"The firs' years Professor McGonagall." The large man told the professor.

"Thank you Hagrid, I will take them from here."

Professor McGonagall led the first years into a small room before she turned to face them "Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

"What exactly is the Sorting Ceremony?" Hermione asked Harry after McGonagall had left.

"I don't know." Harry shrugged "It's tradition not to tell first years about how they are sorted, some sort of traditional psychological torture they came up with years ago and never quit. I doubt it is anything to worry about."

McGonagall came back into the room and led them out into the Great Hall. Harry looked up to the enchanted ceiling, Hermione seeing Harry gaze at the ceiling "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, a History" They were led to the front of the Hall and an old tattered hat was placed on top of a stool. A rip opened along the brim of the hat and it started to sing.

"_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffis are true And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_if you've a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

McGonagall then pulled out a scroll and began calling out names. One by one the first years were called up sat down on the stool and had the hat placed on their head before the hat called out their new house. Susan was sorted into Hufflepuff, Hermione was sorted into Gryfindor, and Daphne was sorted into Slytherin. Eventually McGonagall got to "Potter, Daniel" and silence settled over the Hall. Daniel walked up to the stool and the moment the hat was placed on his head, a moment later the hat shouted "GRYFINDOR!" the Gryfindor table erupted into the loudest cheers of the evening. Harry could even see two redheaded boys jumping up shouting "We got Potter!"

When the Hall finally quieted down Harry was called forward to be sorted. When the hat was placed on his head he heard a voice inside his head "Hmm let me see, a good mind, but knowledge is not what you seek. You are loyal to your friends, but your friendship is hard earned. You have ambition and cunning, oh yes quite a bit of that, but they are but a means by which you would attain your goal. Ah yes, courage to face the unknown, to challenge those who would tell you how to live your life. GRYFINDOR!" The hat finally shouted the last part.

**A/N: Hope you have enjoyed the first chapter of this story. This was a rabid little plot bunny that wouldn't leave me alone while I was working on Master of Time, so I decided to get it out of my system by writing it down. McGonagal's speech and the Hat's song are taken directly from the book. Next chapter will include the first real glimpse of the relationship between Harry and Daniel. I hope no one has a problem with Harry's first reaction to Hermione it originally started out as a joke that wouldn't come up ever again, but then I decided to run with what would happen if Hermione said yes.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: The only part of this story I own is Daniel Potter, everything else belongs to JKR.**

Harry Potter and the Twin Who Lived

"GRYFINDOR!"

Harry took off the hat and made is way to the Gryfindor table where he got a hug from Hermione before sitting down next to her. When the sorting ended and the feast began Daniel turned to Hermione and with as much charm as he could muster tried to start a conversation.

"So Hermione, what do you think of the magical world so far?" Daniel asked as Harry silently groaned to himself.

"Daniel, don't start this again. It really is childish." Harry said.

Hermione put a reassuring hand on Harry's arm before speaking "Well Daniel I find it amazing that you have such a short memory. I mean it was only a few hours ago you dismissed me out of hand on the train, and yet here you are acting like it never happened."

This put a smile on Harry's face "You'll have to forgive my brother Hermione, it seems the only time he is capable of being polite is when he is attempting to poach my friends."

"He does this a lot then?" Hermione asked completely ignoring the look of outrage on Daniel's face.

"Oh yes, just ask Neville." Harry told her.

"I really am sorry about that Harry." Neville Longbottom said from his seat a few places away from Harry and Hermione.

"I know you are Nev, and I forgave you for it a long time ago. I was simply using you as an example of my brother's childish need to take anything he can from me. You see Hermione, Neville's parents and my parents are old friends, and when we were younger he used to come over to the house to play with Daniel and I. When we were seven Daniel got upset that Neville was spending more time playing with me than with him, so he decided to change things. Over the next month he was as nice as could be to Neville, letting him play with all the best toys, all the while slipping hints about how he was a better friend than I was. Eventually Neville was only playing with Daniel, at that point Daniel went back to being his usual self and completely ignored Neville. Neville didn't come around any more after that, Daniel didn't really care though because as far as he was concerned he had won."

"So he would just take your friends and once they stopped being your friend he would just drop them? That is just sick." Hermione said thinking of how Daniel reminded her of some of the bullies she had known in primary school.

Harry nodded his agreement "It was worse when Susan didn't fall for his charm. When he failed to get her to abandon me he was down right vicious. I really don't get why he feels the need to try and get everything from me, I mean he is already famous, he can get just about anything he wants, and yet his greatest happiness seems to come from taking things from me."

The rest of the feast was taken up with pleasant conversation with some of the older students about what to expect from the different classes and teachers. Hermione was especially eager to start learning magic, though she was a little disappointed to learn they wouldn't get to do anything interesting in the classes for a few months. It seemed that Hermione's biggest concern was that she would be behind everyone who had grown up in a magical home, but Harry did his best to dispel her worries.

"Most of the kids in our year have only had their wands for a month, and since most of their parents don't want to worry about fixing any mistakes, they don't really get any practice. Other than History of Magic none of the theoretical knowledge is covered as part of basic education, unless you have a parent with a mastery in something they don't really know theory well enough to teach it. So out of all the first years only a few have any head start at all, and even then it is only in theory, and theory gets covered pretty heavily so the advantages from early education disappear pretty fast." Harry explained to her trying to impress upon her that she didn't need to worry.

"You seem to know quite a bit about everything though." Hermione pointed out.

"My mum is muggleborn, and she always thought it was strange that so many purebloods came to Hogwarts knowing almost nothing about magic, history, and society. So she decided to teach Daniel and I as much as she could, but Daniel never really liked having to sit and listen to her so he never really learned anything. When it comes down to it that is what will determine how you do here, if you want to learn, if you apply yourself, you will succeed. If you slack off it won't matter who you were before you came here, you will fail."

Eventually the feast came to an end and Professor Dumbledore stood up to make a few announcements "Ahem- just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. "First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well. I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

"Who tells a bunch of schoolchildren not to go somewhere because it's dangerous? He might as well have told everyone 'check out the third-floor corridor, it's really cool.'" Harry asked Hermione with utter disbelief as they were being led up to their dormitories by Percy Weasley. Hermione just shrugged she had to admit he had a really good point. "I'd be willing to put down money that before the end of the month someone will have already found out what is up there that is supposedly so dangerous."

They were showed into the comfortable looking Gryfindor common room, the entrance to which was hidden behind a portrait of a large woman in a pink dress. They were told where to find there dorms. Harry gave Hermione a hug goodnight and went up to his dorm where he promptly fell into a dreamless sleep.

The next morning Harry was awoken by the thundering snores of the redheaded food disposal unit known as Ronald Weasley. He walked down to the common room and was surprised to find Hermione sitting in a chair reading a book.

"Morning Hermione, what are you reading?" Harry asked stifling a yawn.

"Good morning Harry. I was just rereading Hogwarts, a History." Hermione told him showing the cover of her book.

"Well do you want to join me for breakfast?"

"Isn't it a little early for breakfast?"

"No. They start serving at six, Professor McGonagall hands out schedules starting at seven so if we eat now we'll have time to come back up and collect the books we need for our classes. Otherwise we have to walk around with all our books today." Harry explained to her.

Hermione put her book into her bag, picked it up and followed Harry out of the portrait hole. "How do you know all this already? As far as I know there is no schedule written down anywhere."

"There isn't a schedule," Harry shrugged "but my mum and dad went here for seven years and they learned a few things which they passed on to me. Mum figures McGonagall hasn't changed her schedule since she started teaching so she is probably still handing out schedules as soon as she finishes eating, which she apparently does like clockwork." By the time Harry had finished explaining this they had reached the Entrance Hall.

When they entered the Great Hall there were already a handful of early risers at some of the tables. As soon as they sat down at the Gryfindor table a snowy owl flew down with an envelope in its beak. "Hey Hedwig, what have you got there girl?" Harry took the letter from his owl "Hedwig this is Hermione, Hermione meet Hedwig." Harry introduced them while he looked at the envelope. Hedwig hopped over to Hermione looked her in the eye and gave a hoot of greeting. "She likes you Hermione, you should be honored, she is an excellent judge of character." Harry said as he opened the envelope. Inside the envelope were three pieces of parchment and a smaller envelope.

"She doesn't like Daniel either?" Hermione asked.

"Not a bit." Harry said as he began reading the first piece of parchment. "Oh, oops... hadn't thought about that."

"What is it?" Hermione asked him, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Letters from home, this one is from my dad... sending his congratulations... on our engagement."

"You told him?" Hermione asked with a tone of surprise.

"Didn't need to, apparently the family tapestry updated itself while my dad was in the room."Harry told her. Seeing the confused look that Hermione gave him he explained "It's a big magical family tree, it automatically updates when there is a change in the family, like a death, birth, marriage, or in this case engagement."

"How did he react to the news?"

"It's hard to tell with my dad, for instance I can't be sure if he is more upset that I stole his move, or that I got better results than he did. The next piece of mail he sends will tell me more, as it is he hasn't had time to come up with a good joke to play on me." Harry told her as he moved on to the next piece of parchment. "This one is from my mum, telling me off for moving to fast in a relationship just like my dad. Apparently this is for you" He told her handing over the smaller envelope. "And this last one is from my Godfather Sirius saying he's glad some of his charm rubbed off on me, and asking for advice in getting a girl since I've already had more success than he has." Harry finished the last letter with a chuckle. Upon seeing that Hermione had finished reading whatever his mother had sent her he asked "What did she have to say?"

"Just making sure that I was aware of certain things, same stuff you warned me about on the train mostly. Said to write to her if I felt you were if I felt you were forcing me into anything and she would come up here and sort you out. She also wanted to make sure I was aware that we are legally engaged until one of us makes a formal declaration of breaking the engagement." Hermione summarized.

"I notice you haven't done so yet." Harry pointed out.

"Neither have you." She countered.

"I have even more reason to want to marry you today than I did yesterday." He shrugged.

"Oh, do tell."

"You've read all of Hogwarts, a History right?" Hermione nodded "Well you might have seen the section on accommodations for married students?" She nodded again. "Well after last night I would do just about anything to get away from Ron Weasley's snoring."

"It can't be that bad."

"I've heard quieter chainsaws. Back to my original point though, even after my mother's letter you still haven't done anything about the fact that we're engaged."

"I've got plenty of time to do anything about it, and you seem like a nice enough person." Hermione answered simply.

"I guess you're right, we'd have to wait at least three years before we could get married anyways."

"Three years? We'd only be fourteen, isn't that kind of young."

"Maybe a little, but totally legal. Wizarding marriage laws haven't changed in a few centuries, the only requirements are that the groom be at least fourteen and the groom and either the bride or her father or legal guardian give consent." Harry explained "Which is where the unscrupulous type could take advantage, when you agreed to my impromptu proposal it constituted consent."

"I should probably write to your mum, let her know that you had already told me about all this stuff so she doesn't decide to come here to check on us. Was that all there was in the letters?"

"Mostly, there are a couple of inside jokes, and they all say they're looking forward to meeting you if you, as my dad puts it, haven't come to your senses by the holidays." The rest of their conversation was about unimportant things and soon they were heading back up to Gryfindor Tower to get the books they would need for their classes.

The first week of classes was an interesting experience. Each class was its own unique experience with almost no similarity to the other classes. Charms started off with the tiny Professor Flitwick calling roll only to fall off his pile of book from excitement when he reached Daniels name. Harry decided to give Flitwick the benefit of the doubt despite his reaction to Daniel, after all Daniel hadn't said a word to the Professor and Flitwick seemed like he was just the excitable type. McGonagall immediately earned Harry's respect when she told Daniel off when he and Ron came in late to the first Transfiguration lesson. Harry found out that History of Magic with the ghost of Professor Binns was as boring as his dad had warned him it would be. Defense Against the Dark Arts was a bit of a disappointment as Professor Quirrel stuttered his way through lessons about a few simple jinxes that they wouldn't get to try until November. Herbology was held out in the greenhouses where they learned about different types of magical plants and what uses they had.

On Friday the Gryfindors had their first Potions lesson of the year, and it was a double period with the Slytherins. When everyone had entered the classroom Professor Snape walked into the room ordered everyone to be silent and called roll. When he reached Daniels name he stopped "Ah, Daniel Potter- our new celebrity." he said with a sneer before continuing with the roll. When he had finished he launched into a speech about potions "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potionmaking, as there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with

its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach." Harry looked over to Hermione, who was sitting right next to him, to see a determined look on her face, it was clear she wanted to prove herself in this class.

Snape didn't leave much time for this to sink in before he started in on Daniel "Potter, what would I get if I added powdered asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Daniel looked at Snape defiantly for a few seconds and Harry knew his twin was about to say something to antagonize the Professor, so he answered the question before his twin could do something stupid "You would get some pretty noxious fumes, unless you had already added a stabilizer like fluxxweed, in which case you would get a sleeping potion the exact strength of which would depend on the proportion of the ingredients added."

"I didn't ask you." Snape barked at Harry while Daniel glared at him for preventing what was apparently a well thought out insult from being leveled at the Professor.

"Sorry sir, perhaps you should be more specific about which Potter you are referring to in future, there are two of us." Harry said with a sarcastic smile on his face.

"Very well, Daniel Potter, where would you look if I asked you to find a bezoar?" Snape asked staring Daniel down, just waiting for the boy to say something foolish.

Hermione was about to raise her hand, but before she got it in the air Harry put his hand on her arm and gave a subtle shake of his head. Daniel meanwhile was being anything but subtle "I don't know, but if I had one I'd shove it up your greasy Death Eater arse." Harry was unable to stifle his groan at this comment.

"Twenty points from Gryfindor Mr. Potter, and detention on Saturday after lunch" Snape said with barely contained malice in his voice.

After Snape gave the answers to the questions he had asked he told them to partner up and make a potion to cure boils. Snape spent the rest of the class belittling every Gryfindors potion making ability, while praising every Slytherin who had somehow managed to do the simplest of tasks correctly. Suddenly the air was filled with bright green smoke and a highly acidic potion ran across the floor. Neville had made a serious error in making his potion and had melted the cauldron he was using. Neville had been covered with the potion and now every inch of his exposed skin was covered in boils.

Snape cleared the potion away with his wand, told off Neville for his mistake and ordered Seamus Finnegan to take Neville to the Hospital Wing. He then rounded on Daniel "Potter, why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he messed up? That's ten more points you've lost for Gryfindor." Daniel was obviously about to retort, but Ron showed an unexpected level of forethought and kicked Daniel and whispered something before Daniel could say anything.

Once they were out of they were out of the dungeons Harry turned on his brother "Daniel, what the hell is your problem? What the hell were you thinking antagonizing Snape? Do you want to get yourself kicked out? Because if you do want that you better write home right now so I don't have to worry about the fallout from your idiocy."

"What do you mean, what was I thinking? How can you stand there and lecture me for standing up to that... that... you know what he's done, how can you defend him?" Daniel asked incredulously.

"Daniel, I know full well what he did. I am not defending him, but trading childish insults with him is just asking for trouble. Don't do anything stupid Daniel, that bastard isn't worth it." Harry finished before heading off to the library with Hermione.

"What was all that about, with Snape?" Hermione asked.

"Bad blood. My mum met Snape before they started Hogwarts, they became friends when Snape found out she was a witch. They were friends until they had a pretty nasty in their fifth year, they didn't speak for years. Dad on the other hand was openly hostile towards Snape all through school, they absolutely hated each other. In the end mum and dad joined the fight against Voldemort and Snape became a Death Eater. For dad it was the final confirmation of how bad Snape always was, for mum it was the final betrayal of their friendship. Near the end Snape switched sides, not sure why but from the way mum talks about him I think he did it to win her back." Harry explained to her.

"So Snape hates you and Daniel because you are living proof of his failures. Proof that he lost his friend to his worst enemy." Hermione said after a moment.

"Probably something like that." Harry nodded "And Daniel spent to much time listening to dad's stories about the trouble he got in at school. Even my dad will admit that he did some really stupid crap as a student, but Daniel completely ignored that part. So now here he is faced by our dad's childhood nemesis, who is also a former follower of the dark lord he is famous for getting rid of. Add to that the fact that Snape isn't swayed by Daniel's fame, and Daniel lashes out in a fit of stupidity."

"I've just realized that you actually say his name, all the books I read before I came here that mention him say that nobody uses his name. That their that afraid of him."

"Who Voldemort? Hard to be afraid of someone who was beaten by Daniel when he was a year old." Harry shrugged "He isn't the devil or the boogeyman, he isn't even alive anymore. Why should anyone be afraid of him anymore."

**A/N: Hope you all enjoyed. For those of you who are also reading my other story 'Harry Potter and the Master of Time' I'm probably going to get a couple more chapters done for this story before continuing. In case anyone thinks Hermione is OOC, just remember that she was extremely enthusiastic about being at Hogwarts the first few weeks. As for the Harry Hermione engagement, they are kind of in an unofficial game of chicken waiting to see when the other breaks it off.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: In case you missed it I'm not JKR and I don't own Harry Potter.**

Harry Potter and the Twin Who Lived

Harry was sitting with Hermione at breakfast on the second Monday of term when Hedwig again arrived with post from home. This time she carried an envelope and an ornate leather tube that was about a foot in length.

"Oh no. He didn't. Please tell me I'm still asleep and this is all some kind of nightmare." Harry groaned.

Hermione pinched is arm "Seems real enough. What's got you so upset?"

"Give me a second to check. No point in bringing it up if I'm just over reacting." Harry told her as he opened the envelope. Inside was a letter from his dad, as he read the letter his face fell. He then picked up the leather tube and looked inside, there was a rolled up scroll and a golden quill. "Stupid jerk is probably laughing his arse off right now." Harry grumbled as he withdrew the scroll from the tube and unrolled it.

"What is it?" Hermione asked unable to contain her curiosity anymore.

Harry looked around to see who might be within earshot of them before he explained "My dad has fired his first salvo of jokes. This scroll is an engagement contract for the two of us to sign." At this point Hermione began examining the scroll.

"Does he actually expect us to sign it? Why would he do that?"

"I don't think he actually expects us to sign, and he probably did it because he thought it was funny. Looking at it the terms are pretty fair, in fact at first glance it looks like I'm getting screwed over."

"What do you mean? What exactly is all this stuff mentioned here?"

"Well the first part of the contract is simply a formalization of the engagement, essentially it says my family isn't going to disown me if I marry you." Hermione nodded her understanding and motioned for Harry to continue. "The second part here outlines the conditions for the engagement, specifically you get a one hundred galleon a year 'maintenance budget', and if you choose to break off the engagement with cause you get five hundred galleons, you can break it off without cause but you don't get any money, I on the other hand can break it off at any time, but only without cause."

"Maintenance budget?" Hermione asked with a snort.

"Pretty standard arrangement for an engagement to an ancient and noble house. Basic idea is that anytime you appeared in public as my fiancee you would be expected to present a certain image. The hundred galleons is for the purpose of making sure you can obtain appropriate attire for formal occasions." Harry explained.

Hermione rolled her eyes at this but continued with her questions "What's all this with cause, without cause stuff?"

"It basically puts restrictions on my behavior, if I act in a fashion that violates those restrictions you can choose to break off the engagement immediately _with cause_. Normally in a contract you wouldn't be allowed to break it off without cause, but in this case you are free to break off the engagement whether I do something wrong or not."

"I would just get money if I waited for you to screw up." Hermione said with a smile "And you can also break it off at any time, but you don't get any money. What exactly are the restrictions for you?"

"That would be this section down here." Harry pointed out the portion of the contract he was referring to while he adjusted his glasses so he could read the small print "Pretty standard stuff, infidelity, physical mistreatment... _traitor_." Harry growled the last part earning a look from Hermione. "Sorry, there is no way my dad wrote this up himself, which means my mum is helping him with this and she's supposed to not take sides on these things. The last few items are definitely not his style 'speaking in an unnecessarily harsh tone', 'displaying a pattern of inconsiderate behavior', and 'failure to consider your opinions'. The more I read this the more I wonder whether they actually expect us to sign this or not."

"Well what is the rest of this stuff in here?" Hermione asked indicating the rest of the content of the contract.

"Well this bit here covers what my family will do when and if a marriage actually occurs, they cover costs and provide us with two thousand galleons to ensure that we have enough resources to provide for ourselves, full access to the family vault, and my dad relinquishes the title of Lord Potter to me. The rest of it is just a bunch of legalese explaining the reasons for all the specifics in the contract." Harry began reading the section he was referring to, after the first paragraph he came to a conclusion. "Okay, I think they wrote this up mostly as a joke, but made sure that if we did actually sign it they wouldn't be over a barrel. Most of the explanation is thumbing their noses at the pureblood agenda, stating that you as a muggleborn shouldn't be expected to put up with someone as unworthy of your affections as me."

"So do we sign this or not? It seems fair enough to me, but I'm just assuming that you're analysis is accurate."

"Well I'll sign it, I refuse to fold on the opening shot, but you don't have to sign it if you don't want to. If you choose to sign it we would need a witness, dad recommends asking Professor McGonagall, apparently he let her know about this. And if you want she could look through the contract before you sign it."

"Okay, let's go talk to her. I trust you so we'll just get her to witness." Hermione said after a few moments thought.

Harry nodded and they stood up and walked to the staff table, taking everything Hedwig had delivered with them. "Professor McGonagall, could we speak to you in private?" Harry asked the Transfiguration Professor.

McGonagall nodded her consent and led them to an empty room where they could speak. "I assume that this is in regards to the contract that your father sent you Mr. Potter." Harry nodded "Am I to assume then that you wish for me to act as witness then?" both Harry and Hermione nodded their acknowledgment. "I can understand why you would be willing to go along with this, what with the childish games you and your father seem to be playing incessantly, but I must ask Miss Granger if you understand exactly what you are signing."

"Harry explained all of it to me, and it seems perfectly fair. What I understood from reading it myself fit with what Harry said so I am confident I understand what I am signing." Hermione told the Professor.

"Very well, if you both wish to sign I will act as witness. Place the contract on the desk." McGonagall said. Harry did as she directed, he also placed the quill that had come with it on the desk. "Ah good, your father provided a life quill."

"What is a life quill?" Hermione asked.

"It's a special type of quill used for signing legal documents. They aren't used a lot because they are so expensive, but they are more secure and less painful than blood quills. Blood quills use the signer's blood as ink by carving the signature into the back of their hand, life quills though use a small amount of the signer's magic to create ink. Unlike blood quills you can't coerce someone into signing with a life quill as it will effect the signature in a very noticeable way." Harry explained, he then picked up the quill and signed the contract. The ink left behind by the quill flashed gold, when he had completed his signature, and then started shifting from royal blue to emerald green to gold and back to blue.

Hermione then picked up the quill and signed the contract the ink flashed gold then turned from blue to brown to gold. Then McGonagall took the quill and signed as a witness, again the ink flashed gold then turned from red to gray to gold. As soon as the three signatures were on the contract another gold flash filled the room and both Harry and Hermione had a ring on their finger. Harry's ring was a simple platinum signet ring that bore the Potter coat of arms, a gryphon with a sword and staff. Hermione's ring was a platinum band with a ruby that had a small copy of the Potter coat of arms engraved on it.

"I knew I was forgetting something." Harry said as soon as he saw the rings. "Because the contract designates me as the next Lord Potter I get the heir's ring and you get the Potter Family engagement ring."

"Wow" was all Hermione was able to say for a few moments as she examined the ring "Wait this ring is some kind of family heirloom? I can't take this, what if something happens to it?" Hermione asked somewhat nervously.

"Don't worry about it Hermione, the ring is practically indestructible, and only you or I can remove it and it can't fall off. Also it's yours as long as we are engaged, returning the ring to me or any member of my family is how you would officially break off the engagement. Also it lets people know that you are engaged to the heir of House Potter and that any insult or attack against you is also against House Potter." Harry explained to her.

"Is that really a concern, that I would be attacked?" Hermione asked.

"Attacked, no probably not, but insults are almost a certainty. This way most people will be smart enough to be nice, or at least quiet." Harry told her "Professor could you see that the contract gets back to my dad, it really shouldn't be sent back by owl."

"Of course Mr. Potter, I'll take it to him after classes today." McGonagall told Harry.

"Thank you professor. Come on Hermione we have class." Harry said before leading the way out of the room and toward their first class of the day.

On Thursday of their second week the Gryfindor first years had flying lessons with the Slytherins. Harry was looking forward to getting on a broom again as he really enjoyed flying and hadn't been able to fly in quite a while. Hermione had been very nervous when she heard they would be flying, but Harry had calmed her down by going over the most common mistakes that first time fliers made, and how best to avoid them. As they made their way down to the grounds for their lesson though Hermione's nerves began to return.

"Don't worry Hermione, you will be just fine. I will be right there with you, and I won't let anything happen to you." Harry told Hermione when she started glancing back at the castle as if trying to decide if she could successfully make a run for it. Hermione calmed down from this reassurance, just in time for the Slytherin first years to join the Gryfindors.

"Potter I don't know why you insist on associating with filth like her." Draco Malfoy drawled upon seeing Harry comforting Hermione.

"Draco," Harry said his voice icy "I would recommend that you keep a civil tongue when speaking to my fiancee, or I might find it necessary to take action against your family. Starting by teaching you a lesson or two about manners."

"If you try anything my father will..." Draco started to threaten.

"Your father will tell you to shut your damn mouth. Your family can't afford a blood feud with the Potter's and your worthless ladder-climber of a father will gladly inform you of that." Harry said cutting Malfoy off.

Malfoy glared at Harry before he decided to go after easier prey. "What was that about? Malfoy just gave up, he never shuts up like that." Hermione asked Harry.

Harry looked around to make sure Malfoy was still close enough to hear and then he explained it to Hermione "Malfoy's father was a Death Eater back before Voldemort kicked it. He got off by claiming to be acting against his own free will, and by bribing enough government officials for that excuse to fly. Everyone knows that's how he got off, and some people would do just about anything to get rid of him, but he's a slippery little bastard. My dad has been waiting for an excuse to call a blood feud against those worthless frogs since the war ended, and Lucius knows he wouldn't last a week if it came to a blood feud."

"Why does everyone have such a problem with the Malfoy's? I mean it would make sense if they were all like Draco, but I find it hard to believe that Draco could talk his way out of prison no matter how much money he had."

"Well the Malfoys are a new family with new money, but they act like they are an old family, and that doesn't make them many friends." Harry explained "The Malfoys also like to play up the pureblood angle but the first Malfoy with magic was nothing more than a thief who fled France during the Revolution after he made a fortune looting the estates of executed nobles. In the end the people who care about social status don't like them because they are new money, and those who don't care don't like them because they are a bunch of stuck-up gits. Unfortunately politicians don't care whether money is new or old as long as it gets in their pocket. Lucius tried to buy some status by marrying into the Black family, but my godfather Sirius disowned dear Draco's mum the moment he became Lord Black. Isn't that right Draco?" Harry asked the last part loud enough that Malfoy couldn't pretend not to have heard him, though Harry could tell that he had been listening to the entire conversation.

At that point Madam Hooch the flying instructor arrived. She told everyone to stand next to a broom, hold their hand over the broom and say "Up". Everyone did as they were told but only a few people got any results. Harry and Daniel's brooms jumped into their hands immediately, Draco, Ron and Neville's brooms came up after a few seconds, and Hermione's broom rose after her second try. Madam Hooch showed everyone how to properly mount and grip their broom giving pointers to those people, like Draco, who couldn't follow simple directions. Madam Hooch then had them kick off from the ground and fly a few feet before landing. Unfortunately for Neville his broom decided that it didn't want to land and continued to fly higher. Neville realized immediately that the broom was not going to respond to any attempt he made to control it and jumped of the broom before it was more than thirty feet in the air. His landing could definitely have been better as he came down hard on his hands and broke his wrist. Madam Hooch took Neville with a warning to the students not to touch the brooms until she returned.

"That idiot can't even fly a broom." Malfoy laughed as soon as Neville and Madam Hooch were out of sight.

"Shut up Malfoy." Daniel growled "It's not like you could do any better."

"I could do a lot better than you Potter." Malfoy sneered as he picked up his broom and took off, showing of his mildly impressive flying skills.

As soon as Malfoy landed Daniel grabbed his own broom and started to show off his own skills, which were significantly better than Malfoy's. Throughout this exhibition Harry kept a hand on Hermione's shoulder to keep her from interfering and getting Daniel to stop. Harry may have disliked the blonde Slytherin, but his brother needed to be taught the lesson that Malfoy obviously had planned. Just as Daniel was pulling out of an amazing dive Professor McGonagall arrived escorted by one of the Slytherin first years whom Malfoy had sent off to get a Professor. Harry groaned to himself, of all the professors it could have been it had to be the only one who cared enough about Quidditch to bend the rules just for the sake of the game.

"Daniel Potter, get down here now!" McGonagall ordered in her sternest voice "Never in all my years of teaching... Come with me this instant." She barked out before dragging Daniel away ignoring the protests from some of the Gryfindors.

Harry didn't see his brother until dinner that evening. By the time that Harry and Hermione arrived in the Great Hall Daniel was busy bragging to everyone at the Gryfindor table that he was now the youngest person on a house Quidditch team in a century. Just as Harry and Hermione were sitting down Draco Malfoy came over to the Gryfindor table flanked by his trained gorillas Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. "So Potter having a last meal?" Draco said sneering at Daniel "When are they shipping you back to mummy and daddy?"

"Shut up Malfoy, you're just sore that I'm a better flier and a better wizard than you'll ever be." Daniel snapped back.

"I could take you on anytime Potter. Tonight if you want, Wizard's Duel. Wands only- no contact." Draco said his sneer only growing

"Fine." Said Daniel.

"Yeah, I'm his second, who's yours?" Ron cut in.

Malfoy glanced at his thugs for a second before responding "Crabbe. Midnight alright? We'll meet you in the trophy room, that's always unlocked." He then marched away before either Gryfindor could respond.

Later that night Harry was sitting with Hermione in the common room doing homework, they had just finished all the homework they had been assigned and Harry had no intention of going up to bed just yet. Harry pulled out a book to read and glanced over at Hermione who had done exactly the same thing. It was already much later than either of them usually stayed up and Harry had a suspicion that she was staying up for the same reason as he was.

"You waiting for Daniel and Ron too?" Harry finally asked.

"Yes." Hermione admitted "Someone has to stop them from doing something stupid and getting in trouble."

Harry shrugged at this "I think it might do Daniel some good to realize that his fame won't keep him out of trouble here. I'm just here to tell him off for being a colossal idiot and then let him do what he wants."

**A/N: This is the longest it has ever taken me to write a chapter for one of my fics, I hope it was woth the effort. Sorry to leave it off where I did, but the chapter was getting a little long by my standards and there really isn't really anywhere else to stop for a while.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I'm not JKR and I don't own Harry Potter**

Harry Potter and the Twin Who Lived

Harry was awoken by the sound of someone making exaggerated gagging sounds. Hermione had fallen asleep leaning on his shoulder shortly after ten and he had apparently joined her shortly afterward, he was also leaning into her. He opened his eyes to see his brother and Ron standing in front of them. He shook Hermione awake before addressing his brother "You know if you wanted to go to your idiotic duel without being waylaid all you had to do was not be an annoying prat for all of one minute while you walked right past us. Of course that would be asking quite a bit of you, wouldn't it?"

"Shut up Harry, and mind your own business." Daniel snapped.

"I'm just here to make sure you realize how stupid this idea is. Malfoy probably won't even show up. As far as I'm concerned you deserve whatever you get from this idiotic outing." Harry said before settling back into the couch.

"Your brother might think that it's okay for you to go running around in the middle of the night, but you can't just do whatever you want. You'll get in a lot of trouble and lose all the points Harry and I have earned in class. Don't you care about Gryfindor at all?" Hermione said after finally waking up enough to say anything, Harry did notice that she was still resting her head on his shoulder.

"It's none of your business Granger." Ron said, speaking for the first time since coming down to the common room "Come on Daniel we're gonna be late." Ron then led the way out through the portrait hole.

Hermione had no intention of letting them go without finishing her rant followed them out of the common room, and Harry followed because he didn't trust his brother to remain civil toward Hermione without him there. The moment the portrait closed Hermione and Harry immediately regretted the decision to follow Daniel and Ron in order to make sure they properly understood their selfish idiocy.

"Damn" said Harry looking at the hidden entrance to Gryfindor tower "the Fat Lady's gone."

"Well that's your problem isn't it? We have to get going." Daniel said before he and Ron started walking toward the trophy room.

Harry looked at Hermione and gestured toward Daniel and Ron, she shrugged and they both jogged after them to catch up. "I guess we're coming with you." Harry said as soon as they caught up to Daniel and Ron. "After all I wouldn't want to lose an opportunity to say 'I told you so'." Daniel merely grunted his acceptance before continuing on his way.

After a few minutes of walking the four Gryfindors made it to the trophy room. Harry pulled a pocket watch from his robes and looked at the time "Two minutes 'til midnight, and Malfoy is nowhere to be seen." Harry said not taking his eyes off his watch. "Thirty seconds 'til... ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, and I told you so. Now let's get out of here before a teacher shows up to investigate an 'anonymous tip'."

At that exact moment they all heard the last voice they wanted to hear in their current situation "Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner." It was Argus Filch, the caretaker, and he knew they were there, if his conversation with his cat, Mrs. Norris, was any indication. "They're in here somewhere, probably hiding." If it had been anyone else, with the obvious exception of Professor Snape, they would only have gotten a stern lecture and lost a handful of points, but with Filch they would be lucky to only get one detention, more than likely they would get a weeks worth.

Harry immediately put a hand on Hermione's shoulder, when she turned to look at him he put a finger to his lips and gestured toward the far door out of the trophy room. Hermione nodded in understanding and gestured for Harry to lead the way. Harry and Hermione were nearly to the door when Daniel and Ron realized that their traveling companions were making their escape, and decided to follow suit as quickly as possible. This resulted in Ron kicking a trophy case with his overly large foot and making a horrible racket, which completely defeated the point of trying to make a stealthy exit. If it wasn't bad enough that Ron had alerted Filch to their presence Daniel then made sure that there was no doubt that students were present by yelling "RUN!". Harry and Hermione were already moving before Daniel made his less than subtle suggestion and only increased their pace in hopes of getting away from the boys whose every action put them at greater risk of getting caught.

No matter how far or how fast they ran Daniel and Ron kept following them. After Harry led them through a couple of secret passages they found themselves at a dead end that only had a single door. Harry skidded to a halt trying to decide the best course of action, if the door only led into an empty room Filch would have no trouble catching them, but if they turned around they might run right into the caretaker. Before Harry could come to a decision Ron ran up to the door and tried to open it.

"It's locked, we're doomed." The redhead moaned in defeat.

Both Harry and Hermione pulled out their wands and walked to the door. When they arrived at the door at the same time Harry motioned for Hermione to proceed "It's all yours" he said. Hermione nodded to him and waved her wand saying "_Alohomora_". The lock clicked and the door swung open a little before Hermione opened the door and all four of them went through before closing the door.

"Great, so now we're lost and hiding, hopefully Filch won't find us." Whined Daniel.

"Well I have some good news, and some bad news." Said Harry as he looked upon the fifth and original occupant of the room they had chosen to hide in.

"What's the good news?" Ron asked sarcastically.

"We're not lost." said Harry.

"How do you know that?" Hermione asked quietly

"Well, that's the bad news. Unless I'm very much mistaken, we're in the forbidden corridor on the third floor. Unless of course there is something even worse than that on the third floor." Harry told them his eyes never leaving the giant three headed dog that was laying in front of him. The others all turned to look at what he was talking about "So how about we open that door and take our chances with Filch?" Harry asked as he reached for the door handle. No one saw a flaw with his reasoning and soon they were all standing out side the door. "Alright everyone follow me and stay silent." Harry said before leading them all back to Gryfindor Tower. When they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady Harry gave the password before she could lecture them about being out after hours. Once they were in the common room they all dropped into seats exhausted.

"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" Ron finally croaked out "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."

"You don't use your eyes, either of you, do you?" Hermione snapped at Ron and Daniel. She was tired and frightened and she _really _didn't like them, so she saw no need to try to be polite at the moment. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"

"The floor?" Daniel suggested, drawing a derisive snort from Harry "I had better things to look at than its feet."

"Doesn't make that answer any less stupid. In case you were wondering it was standing on a trapdoor." Harry told his brother "Would you look at the time, goodnight Hermione." Harry gave Hermione a comforting hug before going upstairs to bed. Hermione left moments later.

On the morning of the nineteenth Harry and Hermione were sitting at breakfast when Hedwig once again flew down, this time followed by a regal looking black owl carrying a small box. Hedwig had a letter and a package.

When Harry saw the two owls he sat up straighter "Good it got here on time." he said as he retrieved the small box before the black owl flew away again. "Happy birthday Hermione. Sorry I didn't have time to wrap your present." he handed Hermione the box.

Hermione opened the box her curiosity getting the better of her "How did you know when my birthday is?" She asked off-hand as she took the lid off the box to reveal a small silver key with the number 1247 engraved on it. "A key Harry?"

"Your date of birth is under your name on my family tapestry, my mum made sure I knew it was coming up in her last letter." Harry said as he was looking through the letter that Hedwig had delivered. Oh by the way the package is for you, it's from my dad, so be careful when you open it. As for the key, that is the key to your new vault at Gringotts. I set it up for you and made the minimum deposit of five galleons."

"Hmm, that's an interesting present I guess, but I thought Gringotts keys were gold." Hermione said thoughtfully.

"Yours isn't gold?" Harry asked looking up from the letter. Hermione showed him the silver key "Wow, they gave you a preferred account. I guess they decided that any friend of mine is deserving of an act of good faith." Harry explained.

"A preferred account?" Hermione asked her curiosity continuing to mount.

"Yeah, when you went to Gringotts to exchange pounds for Galleons you paid fifteen pounds to the galleon right?" Hermione nodded "Well the exchange rate is only ten pounds to the galleon, but as a non-customer you pay a fifty percent exchange fee. An account holder would pay ten percent, but a preferred account holder pays no fee at all. The fact that you have a silver key means that the goblins recognize you as someone who deserves to be treated with respect and therefore they will do their best to help you be profitable. Most things are done at cost and you get a better interest rate. I have a preferred account, and so do my parents. I guess when I asked them to set up an account for a friend they decided to take my word as good enough to give you a preferred account. As long as you are polite and respectful when dealing with the goblins in future they'll extend their best service."

"So you set up an account to save me money on school supplies?" Hermione asked.

"Partially, as a preferred account holder I don't have to pay the twenty galleon fee to set up an account. Unless you decide to completely cut yourself off from the wizarding world once you graduate you'll need an account eventually. This way your account will be in good standing before you even get a job." Harry told her.

Hermione smiled at the boy who was quickly becoming the most important person in her life before she picked up the package. She ripped open the package to reveal a book. "A History of Magical Marriage Traditions." Hermione read the title aloud "Is he serious about this Harry?"

Harry shrugged "I don't know, he says in his letter that it's a very informative book. He also suggests that you look through it, he seems to think it will help you come up with ideas for 'the wedding'. He actually seems kind of excited about the idea, wants to know if you have a specific date in mind. He also wants to get in contact with your parents so they can all start laying the groundwork for the wedding." Harry said.

"No!" Hermione all but shouted "Please Harry, don't let your dad say anything to my parents. They wouldn't... they're... just... please Harry."

"Alright Hermione. I'll make sure he doesn't do anything, but why don't you want him to contact them?" Harry asked

"I just... I don't want to talk about it okay Harry." Hermione said her eyes pleading with him not to push this line of questioning "I don't really get along with my parents, I haven't since I got my Hogwarts letter." Hermione told him hoping he would be satisfied for a while before he wanted to know more.

"It's okay Hermione. You don't have to talk about it. I'll tell my dad to drop it or I'll let mum know about what he did last summer when we were in Paris, that'll put the fear of god in him." Harry told her reassuringly.

"Thanks Harry. So what's the deal with this book your dad sent me?" Hermione asked trying to change the subject.

"It's about different magical marriage traditions. Most magical marriages are just like muggle marriages, just legal arrangements, however there are, and always have been other types of marriage that are more binding. A lot of what that book probably discusses are different types of marriage bonds of different strength."

"Why don't more people use these bonds then?" Hermione asked as she started to scan the table of contents.

"Once you start binding yourself magically to your spouse the line 'til death do us part' becomes much more literal." Harry shrugged before returning to finish his letter.

"Huh, some of these sound interesting. This one makes both spouses stronger magically." Hermione mentioned before returning to reading "Some of these sound horrible though, not to mention barbaric and misogynistic. Oh good most of these are illegal now, but some of these talk about repeatable bonds."

"What's the publication date on that?" Harry asked

"Um... 1926" Hermione told him after checking the front of the book.

"It's out of date then. Those repeatable bonds you mentioned were used for plural marriages, but plural marriage was outlawed in '72." Harry told her while he was buttering his toast.

"It took the wizarding world until 1972 to outlaw plural marriages?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"Yep, and what's worse is that the law only got through after years of heavy politicking by a couple of people that wanted to get their hands on some vacated Wizengamot seats. Even now people don't really see it as wrong, it just happens to be illegal." Harry explained with a slight chuckle.

"So when the wizarding world modernizes something they do it for politics not because it's a good idea." Hermione noted shaking her head in disgust.

The rest of September passed quickly for Harry and Hermione. Every few days Harry would receive from his parents, in which his mother would ask about class and his father would half-jokingly ask about what Harry and Hermione thought about some idea for their wedding. It was in response to one of these questions that Hermione jokingly suggested that they get married on July 31st so that Harry would never forget their anniversary. James Potter wrote back in the next letter that he had spoken to a friend about being available to officiate a wedding every year on Harry's birthday from the day Harry turned 14.

**A/N: For those of you who are wondering Hermione's parents in this are going to be very different from how they are in Master of Time. I honestly think that this version of her parents is more in line with what little is shown of them in canon. Writing this story is definitely more of a challenge than Master of Time, but at the same time it has also been far more enjoyable to work on so I hope you are all enjoying it as much as I am.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I am not JKR and I don't own Harry Potter.**

Harry Potter and the Twin Who Lived

The month of October passed quickly for Harry and Hermione, as Harry had predicted Hermione had quickly caught up with the students who came from magical homes, and had even surpassed most of them. The only reason she had yet to beat Harry in any of their classes was that Harry had been trained by his mother for years to push himself academically. Even though Hermione had yet to beat him in any class Harry told her on a regular basis that it was only a matter of time before she was beating him in at least a few of their classes.

Daniel and Ron had been very angry at Harry and Hermione following their late night escapade the second week of school, and even more than a month later they still took every opportunity to express their displeasure. At first it had been 'the silent treatment', until they realized that Harry and Hermione apparently preferred their silence. Then it had been angry glares, but even those didn't bother them. Eventually it had come to rude comments and insults every time they were within earshot.

It all eventually came to a head on Halloween. All of the first years had been looking forward to Halloween ever since Professor Flitwick had informed them that they would be learning the levitation spell in Charms. After Flitwick had explained how the spell was done he paired them off and gave each pair a feather to practice the spell on. Harry was paired with Seamus Finnegan, an excitable Irish boy with a penchant for causing explosions, while Hermione was paired with Ron. Seamus had just caused their third feather to explode when Hermione finally grew tired o Ron's foolish and dangerous attempts to cause the feather to float.

"You're saying it wrong," Hermione snapped at the redhead, her patience finally giving out. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."

Ron did not appreciate Hermione's suggestion and he snarled at her "You do it then, if you're so clever."

Without a second glance at Ron Hermione took out her wand gave the proper swish and flick motion and said "Wingardium Leviosa" and the feather floated off of the desk.

Ron probably would have just stuck to grumbling to himself if Professor Flitwick hadn't drawn everyone's attention to Hermione's success. Instead Ron waited until everyone was making their way out of the classroom before he took his revenge. "I really don't understand what your brother sees in her." he said loudly to Daniel.

"He's just taking pity on her because no one else would want to be her friend. Probably hoping he can get her to do his homework for him." Daniel replied catching on to what Ron was attempting.

Before Harry could say anything to Daniel about how much of an insufferable ass he was being Hermione ran from the classroom with tears running down her face. Harry tried to run after her, but he lost sight of her in the crowded hallway before he made it thirty feet from the classroom. Harry spent all of lunch looking for Hermione and only gave up on his search when he had to go to Transfiguration. On his way out of the Transfiguration classroom he heard Parvati Patil telling Lavender Brown that Hermione had been crying in the girl's bathroom on the third floor. Harry immediately ran to the third floor hoping to find Hermione there so he could talk to her.

"Hermione, are you in there?" Harry asked through the door, even though he knew she was as he could hear her crying.

"Go away Harry." Hermione called out her voice rough from crying.

"No. I'm not going to leave you here to wallow in your own misery. Come out so we can talk." Harry told her, his tone clearly stating he wouldn't be leaving without her.

"I don't want to talk."

"Then I'll just sit here and wait until you do." Harry said sitting down next to the bathroom door.

Thirty minutes later Hermione called out "Are you still there?" her voice full of hope.

"Yes, I'm still here." Harry told her, and a couple minutes later Hermione opened the door and sat down next to Harry. "I took notes for you in Transfiguration." Harry said pulling his notes out of his bag. "Don't listen to my brother and Ron, I'm not with you because I pity you and we both know I don't need someone else to do my homework for me." Hermione made a small noise of acknowledgment but didn't sound at all convinced. "Hermione you listen to me, I would not ask just anyone to marry me."

Hermione snorted at Harry's last declaration "Harry you asked me to marry you as a joke, and the only reason you did it was because I said your brother was annoying." Hermione said with a frown

"That's not the point. I may have asked as a joke, but I still haven't changed my mind, have I?" Hermione didn't respond to Harry's question so he continued on "Hermione the more time I spend with you the more I come to the conclusion that I made the right decision when I asked you."

"But why would you want to be with me? My hair is horrible, my teeth are to big, I'm not pretty like Lavender or Parvati, or Susan, or Daphne." Hermione rambled.

"Hermione, what you look like doesn't change what I think of you, you are a wonderful intelligent person. If your teeth or your hair matter that much to you I'll let you in on a little secret, with the possible exception of Susan, none of those girls you mentioned has their natural looks anymore. They've all had their mothers use magic to change anything they saw as imperfections. By the time we graduate with few exceptions none of the girls in our year will have their natural looks, they'll use magic to change their eyes, their nose, their chin, they'll straighten their teeth with spells and fix their hair with potions."

"Thanks Harry." Hermione said before leaning into Harry and laying her head on his shoulder. They sat there in silence for some time until they both heard a low rumbling sound "Did you hear that Harry?"

"Yeah. Come on we should get down to the feast anyways." Harry stood up and offered his hand to Hermione to pull her up. As they headed toward the stairs they finally saw the source of the sound. There walking down the corridor was a twelve foot tall mountain troll. Harry immediately pulled Hermione into a side corridor and gestured for her to remain quiet. Luckily the troll hadn't noticed them and it lumbered past their hiding place. "We need to find a teacher." Harry said once he was sure the troll was past.

"Was that a troll?" Hermione asked with a touch of fear in here voice as they made their way to the stairs. Harry just nodded and increased his pace. Just as they reached the stairs leading down to the second floor Professor McGonagall was coming up the stairs.

"Mr. Potter Miss Granger what are you doing here? All students were supposed to go to their common rooms until the troll was dealt with." McGonagall looked at both of them with her trademark stare.

"We didn't know about the troll until we saw it just now, it went that way." Hermione told McGonagall pointing to where they had seen the troll.

"Very well, you two head up to the common room. I will be speaking to you after this is dealt with." Without another word Harry and Hermione took off up the stairs and toward Gryfindor Tower. When they arrived in the common room they were bombarded by question, everyone wanted to know why they hadn't been at the feast. After giving a brief explanation of what had happened, leaving out why they had been sitting next to the girl's bathroom for two hours after classes let out, they sat down to wait for McGonagall to come speak with them.

While they were waiting Neville came over and told them how Professor Quirrel had come charging into the Great Hall moments after the feast had begun yelling about a troll.

"Well there was definitely a troll, but it moved pretty damn fast to get up to the third floor from the dungeons." Harry said as he leaned back into the couch after listening to Neville's story.

Twenty minutes after Harry and Hermione had arrived in the common room Professor McGonagall came in and asked them to follow her outside so she could ask them a few questions. Once they were out in the corridor she asked them to tell her exactly what had occurred. Hermione started, but when Harry realized that she was trying to take all the blame for what happened he cut her off and told McGonagall the whole story.

"Well, as you didn't break any rules, and you were not aware that all students were to have returned to their common rooms you will not receive any punishment for being out in the corridors. Also since you kept a cool head and went to inform a teacher when you saw the troll, I will award each of you five points for excellent judgment in a crisis." McGonagall told them after they had told her the entire story.

By the time they had returned to the common room it was nearly empty, so they sat down on an empty couch. As soon as they had sat down Hermione turned to look at Harry "Harry did you really mean all those things you said before the troll showed up?"

"Yes Hermione I meant every word." Harry told her pulling her into a hug.

After just sitting there for a few minutes Hermione looked at Harry again "Harry, you remember how your mum and dad invited me to come stay for Christmas?" Harry nodded "Can I borrow Hedwig so I can write to my parents to tell them I'm spending the holidays with you."

"Sure, but don't you mean ask them if you can spend the holidays with me?"

"No, as far as I know they don't have Christmas plans yet, and I know I won't enjoy whatever they come up with, so I'm just going to tell them I won't be coming home for Christmas."

November came and went with only a few events of note, Hermione exchanged a series of letters with her parents becoming more and more upset every time they responded. Harry realized that there was something going on between Hermione and her family, but he could also tell that Hermione wasn't ready to talk about it. In the end Hermione won out and by the last week of November her parents had apparently relented and agreed that she didn't need to come home for the holidays. Harry was never entirely sure whether she had told them where she was going for Christmas as every time he asked her she would evade the question.

The first Quidditch match of the year, Gryfindor vs. Slytherin, was only a few days after Halloween. Harry and Hermione didn't attend the match as Harry never really enjoyed watching the sport and Hermione thought that the entire game sounded completely insane. She thought it was foolish that you spent an indeterminate amount of time flying around roughing up the other team scoring goals that, unless one team was insurmountably better than the other, didn't matter when the game ended. After listening to her thoughts on the game Harry had to agree that the entire thing was pretty stupid, though he did feel she went a bit far comparing it to the gladiatorial combat of ancient Rome. Apparently at some point in the match someone had jinxed Daniel's broom and caused him to be bucked off his brand new Nimbus 2000. Luckily one of the Weasley Twins had caught him before he fell to his death. Despite a full investigation into what occurred during the game all that could be determined was that someone had used an extremely powerful curse to take control of Daniels broom.

One day in late November as the Gryfindors were heading back to the castle from Herbology Daniel and Ron were whispering to each other and shooting glances at Harry and Hermione before laughing to each other. Harry waited until the rest of the class was far enough away before he and Hermione went over to confront them.

"What are you, like seven? Seriously what is your problem? If anyone has a right to hold a grudge it's us." Harry demanded of his brother.

"What are you talking about?" Daniel snapped back at Harry.

"Well your stupidity did almost get us eaten by a three headed dog." Hermione pointed out.

None of them had noticed Hagrid coming up behind them, but they definitely noticed when spoke "How did you lot find out about Fluffy?" Hagrid asked in his booming voice.

"_Fluffy_?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"Well he's gotta have a name don't he." Hagrid pointed out.

"I'd have gone with Fido," Harry said "much better name for a guard dog, don't you think."

"What makes you think he's a guard dog?" Hagrid asked nervously.

"Well I can't really think of any other reason to keep him locked up in a castle." Harry shrugged "I just wonder what he's guarding."

"What he's guardin' is none of yer concern, that's between Professor Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel." Hagrid said a little to loudly.

"Alright, well we'll see you later Hagrid." said Hermione, grabbing Harry's hand and pulling him in the direction of the library, leaving Daniel and Ron to try and pester Hagrid for more information. When they got to the library, without saying a word, they set about looking for any book that might tell them who Flamel was. After an hour of searching with no luck Harry was surprised to see Daniel and Ron searching through the shelves.

"What are you doing here?" Daniel barked at Harry as soon as he noticed him.

"I'm pretty sure that's my line, after all I can count on one hand the number of times. To answer your question though I would imagine I'm here for the same reason you are." Harry said.

"Yeah, well just stay out of our way." Daniel muttered.

"Please, you and Ron will be blundering around for months before you find anything even remotely related to what you're looking for. Hermione and I will have found him long before you get through a handful of books." Harry sneered at his brother as he threw down the metaphorical gauntlet before turning to walk over to where Hermione was sitting. "Hermione we need to pick up the pace so we can find Flamel before Daniel and Ron do."

"Harry we could probably wait until after exams to start researching and get done before them." Hermione said with a smirk.

"True but I don't want to just beat them, I want to destroy them."

"Alright, if we want to get this done we need to do it right. The first thing we should do is narrow down how Dumbledore might have met Flamel." Hermione said. They spent the next hour discussing how best to narrow down their search.

December passed without incident and little success in their search. Even though Harry and Hermione were both spending most of their free time in the library they had not found a single mention of Nicholas Flamel. During the last week of term Professor McGonagall had all of the Gryfindors who planned to stay sign on a list. Hermione was already looking forward to spending the holidays with Harry and his parents, and was even happier when Daniel decided that he would rather stay at Hogwarts for the holidays. Harry and Hermione both had huge smiles on their faces the day they walked past Daniel on their way down to catch the Hogwarts express back to London.

**A/N: Sorry this one took so long, originally the scene with the troll was going to play out in a very similar fashion to the book, but when I stopped to think about how this Harry would handle the troll I realized that this Harry wouldn't have left Hermione crying in the bathroom while he went to the feast. As far as the questions about Hermione's parents go, the only time they are shown in canon they are at Diagon Alley and come off as being intimidated by what they see, then in OotP she makes a comment about how her being made prefect is something they can finally understand about her life before she finally erases all their memories of her and sends them to Australia.**


End file.
